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'Soft drug' legalization law may be withdrawn
The bill would categorize drug-trafficking cases according to the gravity of the criminal act
E Kathimerini (Greece)
Friday, February 3, 2012
Greece may withdraw a bill allowing the possession of small amounts of 'soft' drugs for personal use because of opposition from two parties that support Lucas Papademos’s interim government. Plans to change the law stem partly from a need to ease overcrowding in prisons. According to Justice Ministry data, 40 percent of the prisoners now held in Greek jails were involved in drug-related crimes. -
Hemp bill in Colorado legislature risks more headaches with feds
The Denver Post (US)
Thursday, February 2, 2012
With a deadline looming at the end of this month in the most dramatic federal-state showdown yet in Colorado over marijuana, a state lawmaker has proposed a bill that would raise another cannabis clash. The bill aims to study using the growing of industrial hemp to clean polluted soil, a process known as phytoremediation. There is some evidence that hemp plants can suck toxic substances out of the ground. Growing hemp is illegal under federal law without approval from the Drug Enforcement Administration. -
Needle Park remembered
20 years after the closure of Zürich’s notorious drug scene
Swissinfo (Switzerland)
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The Platzspitz or “Needle Park” in Zürich was one of the world’s most notorious open drug scenes, attracting users from all over Europe. After its closure, a new drugs policy was introduced in Switzerland to better protect drug addicts. Dr André Seidenberg was a pioneer of this approach. Swiss TV took him back to the Needle Park, along with a heroin addict who was heavily involved in the scene at that time. (See also: Ten years of heroin handouts fixes drug crime, Swissinfo, January 24, 2004) -
Not That Kind of Smoke-Filled Room
Why doesn’t anyone in Washington take marijuana legalization seriously?
Will OremusSlate (US web)
Wednesday, February 1, 2012Potheads had high hopes for President Obama’s Google+ hangout on Monday. The Web superpower had invited citizens to submit questions for the president via YouTube, and it encouraged people to vote on the questions they’d like Obama to answer in a live video chat. The results: 18 of the 20 most popular questions were about marijuana policy.
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Marijuana Mouth Spray: Will It Be Abused?
The drug is meant to help those suffering from pain from cancer
Discovery News (US)
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
The medical marijuana drug Sativex, which could be approved in the United States in the coming years as a treatment for pain relief, has little potential for abuse, experts say. The British pharmaceutical company GW Pharmaceuticals is currently testing the drug, which is delivered as a mouth spray and called Sativex, in clinical trials. The company plans to seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for the drug as a treatment for cancer pain when the trials are completed. -
Pot legalization efforts forge ahead in key U.S. states
Campaign for legalization could cost millions. States may run afoul of federal ban
Reuters
Tuesday, January 31, 2012Efforts to legalize marijuana for recreational use are gaining momentum in Washington state and Colorado, despite fierce opposition from the federal government and a decades-long cultural battle over America's most commonly used illicit drug. Officials in Washington state said an initiative to legalize pot has enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in November. In Colorado, officials are likely this week to make a similar determination about an initiative there.
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Marijuana legalization measure certified
The Seattle Times (US)
Friday, January 27, 2012A measure to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in Washington State is likely to be on the November 2012 ballot, after the secretary of the state's office certified the initiative, saying the campaign had turned in enough valid petition signatures. Initiative 502 now goes to the Legislature, but lawmakers are not likely to take up the issue during the short 60-day session that ends on March 8, meaning it would automatically appear on the ballot in the fall election.
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Small Dutch city is hub for European khat sales
Agence France-Presse
Thursday, January 26, 2012
A small Dutch city less than 20 kilometres from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport has become the hub of Europe's sales of khat, a plant chewed for its stimulant qualities, soon to be banned in the Netherlands. In a discreet warehouse tucked away in the city of Uithoorn, around a hundred Somalis and Yemenis were haggling over the latest delivery: a tonne of khat. But 15 of the European Union's 27 states and Norway have already listed khat as an illegal narcotic and the Netherlands too announced earlier this month it would ban khat. -
UK could become 'smuggling hub' for herbal high khat
BBC News (UK)
Thursday, January 26, 2012The UK could become a hub for smuggling the herbal stimulant khat, European police and politicians have warned. The Netherlands is the latest country to outlaw the sale of the plant, which is now banned in sixteen EU member states and Norway. Khat is freely sold in the UK and observers say the UK's isolated stance could make it the main base for Europe's khat trade. The British government has commissioned a new review of khat use.
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Leftists suggest legal cannabis clubs
The Local / DPA (Germany)
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Germany’s socialist Left party is calling an expert hearing on “legalizing cannabis through the introduction of cannabis clubs” in the German parliament on Wednesday. The idea has met widespread rejection. The Left party’s proposal is to allow Germans to open exclusive cannabis clubs, where members will be able to grow marijuana plants. They also recommend that consumers be allowed to own 30 grams of the drug for personal consumption – double the current limit.
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